Civilian Conservation Corps

Hoping all our mid-Atlantic area relatives are safe and sound, in stout homes away from flood-prone areas and wind-borne debris.  This post will be mainly something for you to read while you wait out Sandy's nastiness.  Here is an opportunity for me to write a little history lesson for you -- oh, don't scowl -- how many times must I say that history is fun and interesting and good for your soul.

Anyway, this is a timely subject.  The Civilian Conservation Corps, a 1930's organization, was just one of the New Deal ideas from the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a very smart man who obviously paid attention in History Class.  In an era of 30% (Thirty Percent!) unemployment, the plan was to put as many young men as possible to work on all sorts of conservation infrastructure projects.  Not only did Roosevelt see the disastrous result of decades of environmental neglect (like the midwest's dust bowl), but he understood the danger inherent in mobs of unemployed young men (sound familiar?).  So in an amazingly short amount of time that puts our current slug-like Congress to shame, the Civilian Conservation Corps was born, and almost immediately guys 17 to 23 years old had an opportunity to work and contribute not only to saving crucial national resources, but to the welfare of their very own families back home.  Each man earned a dollar a day, $30 a month.  True, $25 was sent directly to their parents at home, but the men received plenty of food, clothing, boots, medical care and, most important, self-esteem and confidence. 

There were CCC camps in every state in the union.  Boys signed up locally, but were sent wherever they were most needed at the time.  The work they accomplished was invaluable to our Depression-weary country.  Something like two billion trees were planted, roads and bridges repaired, national park areas established and upgraded, forest fire towers built, emergency assistance of all sorts provided -- hard work, no doubt, but for the 17 year old boy who fought through the homesickness and toughed it out when extreme weather and sore muscles seemed overwhelming, the benefits gained were incalculable.

With all this in mind, I was surprised and awfully proud to learn that two of our relatives served in the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Jack Alcott was 17 in 1939, so I imagine that's about the time this photo was taken of a CCC-uniformed Jack Alcott with his father, William Reynolds Alcott.

 

And Jack with his sisters, Thelma (Sis) and Ethel Alcott.

 



 

Leonard Alcott turned 17 in 1941, which is about the last year of the CCC's existence - from then on the War scooped up young men and kept them employed for a while.  Len does look younger than 17 in this picture, though.

Photographed with Sis, Ethel and Jack (and baby sister Claudia standing by the car).

I don't know many of the details of their service, unfortunately.  We think they may have been sent to Nevada, but we're not sure.  If anyone can provide any bits of information, please contact us and we'll update.  Stay safe, dear family.  --cds/ck

Ancestral Dogs

It seems we must also take a moment to give proper homage to the canine friends in our family history since they seem to be showing up with regularity in the photographs I've been uploading recently. This is Butch, circa 1940's:

With Ethel, Leonard, Claudia and Lois.

Butch seems to have been a family favorite, even though my Mom tells me Ada referred to him often as "scum-of-the-earth."  Poor Butch.

 

This is a picture of Ethel around 1920.  I swear the animal looks like a sheep to me, not a dog.  Weird.

 

My Mom says she thinks this dog below was named Boots.  That's Leonard holding him/her with Bill and Carl at his sides.  Or Carl and Bill.  Damn, they look alike at this age.

Is this Boots all grown up?  With Jack.

 

This is Ethel with a cute puppy.  If this is her boxer-dog Mugsy, I wish he'd stayed that little.  Mugsy of the 1950's used to scare the living hell out of me.

 

What the???  Who had the Saint Bernard?  

 

Ada and Lois LOVE dogs, really!

 



(we do love you, Mikey!) --cds/ck

Music Man

Quick. Which song immediately springs to your mind when you see this man?

I don't know about you, but I hear in my head Shine On Harvest Moon.

Click on Leon Redbone's version below and enjoy the rest of the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Marks and Claudine (Carroll) Marks.

Uncle Bud and Aunt Claud.

 

--cds/ck

 



Guys With Trucks

Motor mechanics, truck drivers, truck builders -- it's amazing when you stop to think about it, how many of our relatives were and still are involved in the transportation industry. Let's hear it for truck guys:

Above is William Reynolds Alcott who drove for Standard Oil, or Standard Motor Gasoline as it says on the side of the truck.  I thought I had a date for this photo, but can't find that at the moment.

Below is a great picture shared by Arleen (Yager) Ryan of John E. Carroll who drove the first U.S. Mail truck in Northumberland, Pennsylvania.  This photo is dated July 1926:

Trucks are in our DNA, I guess.  Here in Aunti Claud in my hub's restored 1942 Dodge:

 

Got any photos of cherished old vehicles?  Share!  --cds/ck

Last Couple Dancing

Have you ever been to a wedding and the band did one of those anniversary dance games wherein the last couple left on the dance floor had been married the longest? Well, within our little family group, I think this couple would have won the prize.

Laura and John Carroll got to celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary on September 8, 1953 (Grandma Carroll passed away two months later). Two Thousand Twelve marks their 125th anniversary! The above news item is so sweet, I'm retyping it below in case the clipping is too small to read:

"Mr. and Mrs. John E. Carroll, of 90 Morris Avenue, Penns Grove, celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary last week. It all started with a few dance steps which Mrs. Carroll taught him--apparently in the right direction, for they led to the altar.

Mrs. Carroll met her husband at a party, the only entertainment in those days. He and his family had just moved to Northumberland from Harrisburg. She saw him standing aside and asked why he wasn't dancing. She proceeded to teach him when he told her he didn't know how.

The Carrolls were married in Northumberland, Pa. on September 8, 1887, the culmination of a one-and-a-half-year courtship.

A great deal of history has raced by since they traded vows in a simple home ceremony, but the big historical event in their lives was seeing Thomas A. Edison turn on the first electric light. They recall that when the electricity was turned on at The City Hotel in Sunbury, Pa. the filament inside the bulb glowed pink instead of yellow. Edison went to his shop and corrected the difficulty. When he returned and made a second attempt, the light went on. The hotel was later named after him.

Fastest Ride  Comparing the dizzy speeds in today's car age, Mrs. Carroll remembers her fastest ride--and that was when she was a young mother.  She and her sister were on their way to visit relatives at Eagles Mirror, in Sullivan County, Pa., (now a well-known resort) and were riding in a truck hitched to two oxen.  The two sisters were with their two small children and their father and were being driven to their destination by a 14-year old girl.

Because it was their first experience on oxen, the two sisters were screaming, laughing and clapping their hands with excitement.  The oxen were frightened by the hilarity and began to race through the wild, mountainous, unpaved country roads.  As the oxen descended a hill, the young driver jumped out and stopped the animals with a pole, thereby eliminating serious injury.

The experience was such a frightening one that Mrs. Carroll never forgot it.  She often laughs when she recounts the tale of her speediest ride to her children and grandchildren.

The couple was on a sleigh ride when Mr. Carroll proposed.  His wife, who is 83 and five years his junior, recalls that "it was a beautiful clear night filled with stars."

Mrs. Carroll was so happy she couldn't wait until she told her mother.  But before she could accept, it was customary, in those days, for the suitor to ask the girl's father for her hand.

A week or so passed before he mustered up enough nerve to face him.  They were married six months later.

Raised 10 Children.  The Carrolls raised 10 children, four of whom are still living.  Nicholas, with whom they live, Mrs. Thelma Gemberling, who lives across the street at 93 Morris Avenue, Mrs. William Alcott, of Gibbstown, and Mrs. S. J. Marks, Jr., of Woodbury.  They have 22 grandchildren and about as many great-grandchildren (they have lost count).

By trade, Mr. Carroll is an iron worker.  He worked for 35 years puddling iron, that is, melting iron for nails.  He also worked as a government mail messenger and during World War I worked on the steep tower at the Carneys Point Works. 

They moved to Penns Grove 20 years ago.

Mr. Carroll's favorite pastime is walking.  When the Delaware Memorial Bridge opened in August, 1951, he walked over the span twice the same day.  The Red Cross found him bound for the Delaware side on his second trip, they told him it was too hot to walk and drove him across then put him on a bus bound for home.  Mrs. Carroll is suffering with arthritis and is confined to her home most of the time.

The Carrolls were feted at an anniversary dinner at the home of her niece, Mrs. Alvin Jaeger, near Woodbury, last Thursday."

[Actually I believe Mrs. Alvin Yager was Laura (Lugar) Yager and was a grandchild, not a niece.]

And this, then, would be a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Carroll holding one of their first great-grandchildren, Arleen (Yager) Ryan. I love this picture because they look so proud and happy:

And they're still waltzing around the dance floor, I'm sure.  --cds/ck

Begets and Begats

Anybody remember going to Sunday School and having to write down some of the begets and begats, as in Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, etc. etc.  They start out in Genesis, but the really long, boring ones are in Matthew Chapter 1.  Bible stories are great, but these were tedious. 

Anyway, that's sort of what my Ancestry notebook is starting to look like.  In fact, if we are doing this correctly, we can trace Alcotts back as far as William Alcott, born in Burlington County, New Jersey, in 1693.  Pretty cool, huh?  He is mentioned in The Burlington Court Booke of 1705/06 as he was apparently bound to some guy for nine years and three months in order to learn the trade of carpentry.  In those days, being bound as an apprentice to a trade was quite common and not at all like being bound as an indentured servant, who were generally criminals and could be bought and sold and had no choice in the matter.  Serving out your bondage term as apprentice meant you could belong to the trade guild and have access to the good jobs.  Sort of like modern-day unions, except you didn't have to deal with Governor Christie (no offense intended, but we read the papers down here in Florida).

So, William Alcott, born 1693, and wife Ann, begat:

Anthony Alcott, born 1723.  Anthony and wife Elizabeth (Wright) begat:

Israel Alcott, born 1760.  Israel and wife Mary begat:

John Alcott, born 11 November 1807:

John Alcott and his wife Elizabeth (Fox) begat:

 

James Franklin Alcott, born 24 March 1859:

James Franklin Alcott and his wife Louisa Elsworth (Toy) begat:

William Reynolds Alcott, born 7 April 1890, in Camden, New Jersey:

And as we know, William Reynolds Alcott and wife Ada (Carroll) begat and begat and begat those nine notorious Alcott kids we all love so much. 

So that's just a little sweep through Alcott history - we're following up on others, so bear with us.  Sometimes, though, I have to take a break and do some laundry.  --cds/ck

Sisters

Fair warning - this is a picture-heavy post.  I hate to put the "Sisters" song from that old Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye movie White Christmas in your head, but I've got a theme going here.

 

Various groupings of the Alcott sisters Lois, Delores, Sis, Ethel and Claudia.

 

 

 

Lots of sister get togethers.  Lois and Sis - Ethel seated above.

Lois and Ethel on skates!

 

 

Delores and Lois, baby Doug in the middle.

Oh my, 1980's fashions.

Sisters Harriet and Ada Carroll - unsure of the child's identity.

Studio-posed sisters, baby Claudine and Thelma Carroll.

Sisters Pauline and Mary (holding Teddy) Lugar in 1911 - Harriet's children.

 

 

Sisters Thelma, Ada and Claudine (with daughter/niece Ethel, standing tallest).

 

About 1952, Ada with mother Laura Carroll, and sisters Thelma and Claudine.

 

 

Early photo of Thelma (Sis) and older sister Ethel.

 

And again, some years later.

Sis and Ethel (holding Delores).

 

 

One of my favorites, Sis and Ethel on top step; Lois and Delores on bottom - all so nicely dressed, taken during the Big Bow Era, obviously.

Lois, Sis and Claudia.

Out of order, but taken the same day as the steps-photo above.

Another nice one of Ethel and Sis.

Lois and Delores, just before Lois's wedding, September 1951.

Teenagers Lois and Delores.  They seemed to get along so well, right?

Not so!  Here is Delores beating up on poor Lois.  Put her on the ground! 

Made her go crying to Mother!  Poor Lois.
 

I'm glad they all get along so well now.

 

Lois and Claudia.

Not so sure about sisters-in-law.  I don't know why this photo cracks me up so much - left to right, Ada (Carroll) Alcott with her two sisters-in-law, Ethel (Alcott) Vint and Jenny Carroll (Uncle Nick's wife-of-the-week -- oh, give me a break, he had, like four of them!).  This was taken at Lois and Doug's wedding.

 

Newer generation of sisters -- Carole, Jackie and Janet Alcott.  I'm sorry I don't have one with all of you and Cindy.  Send me some! 

 

Cousin-Sisters!  Carole and Susan, topless Janet and me.  

 

So why does Janet get to wear the cute bow in her hair and I look like an escapee from the orphanage?

 

Ah, well....  sisters are awesome, it seems. 

 

(Claudia, Jeff and Doug DeHart)

But brothers are mighty fine, also.  --cds